Devarsi Ghosh's Film Reviews

All in all, there is nothing about Sachin Tendulkar in Sachin: A Billion Dreams that you did not already know. That there are no grey areas in the film can be an issue to only one of two kinds of people in the world. The rest don’t need to read the review.

There is a bunch of well-conceptualised action sequences that are outrageous in design and fun to look at. The climactic final 30 minutes are punctuated by strong, emotional moments – between Quill and Ego, between Gamora and his sister Nebula, between Yondu and everyone else – that add to the stakes and thus give the audience enough to care about the characters’ fate. To put it simply, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a very well-made summer movie. It does not hurt your intelligence or trouble your eardrums. It is smooth, sexy and has an awesome mix for a soundtrack, obviously. What else do you want?

Fans will probably find Fast and Furious 8 mostly satisfying. Non-fans will most likely not find the film as offensive to the senses as they would expect. After all, there are few cinematic moments as oddly eloquent as seeing a WWE pro-wrestler pick up Clint Eastwood’s son like he is an action figure and shake him around.

Phillauri’s concept is good and novel. But the delivery is what North Indians call KLPD. The climactic payoff at the end comes way too easily. It’s just lazy writing after a point. If only Shashi emerged in the writer’s room before filming began and smacked some imagination into Anvita Dutt’s head.

Vishal Bhardwaj, caught with the duty to serve two movies in one (an old-school romance and a war thriller), doesn’t really do a Casablanca though he does give Rangoon his best shot. Nevertheless, Rangoon comes off as probably 2017’s most good-looking and well-made Indian film. Certainly, this year’s most ambitious, with three great lead performances. Vishal Bhardwaj is in fine form, mostly. And yes, the National Anthem comes thrice in the film. What more do you want?

Running Shaadi on paper seems trite, but it is consistently engaging because newer and wilder plot developments get thrown at you (Roy is also the writer) and you cannot help but continue to run with its characters to find out what eventually becomes of them.

Stripped of all the saturated fats that we associate with Indian war films (courtesy JP Dutta) such as sentimental backstories of soldiers, romantic subplots that only serve to bore and unrealistic heroism, The Ghazi Attack, helmed by first-time filmmaker Sankalp Reddy, deserves kudos for its smart, smart filmmaking.

There is a lot to love and lot to notice in Haraamkhor. The film is like a diamond; the more you notice, the more you find imperfections which make it all the more beautiful, all the more perfect. Just one advice: Don’t take your jaanu to watch it with you, it is not a date movie.